I'm back!! My first year in high school has been soooo busy! I haven't had anytime to come back here for months. But now that I'm starting to get control of my hair, I'm worried about my skin. After suffering a horrible stress-induced acne breakout (the worst I've EVER gotten!), I've become obsessed with matte perfect skin. I've tried way too many products at Walmart that are just cheap, and now I'm considering the real deal. I wanted to try PROACTIV because I have a friend that uses it and her skin looks wonderful! She isn't especially prone to breakouts, but neither am I. My main problem is that my skin heals very slowly and my acne scars take months to go away. Plus, I have very fair skin. I am asking if anyone that has skin that is similar to mine or knows someone that has tried PROACTIV, please help me decide if it's worth my mother's money! I've researched online and I've found that this product goes two ways: it either works miracles or makes your acne worse or just stays the same. I would like to know what your experience was, and if it's a quality product. I don't really need specifications on how fast the product works; I've got no major evens on my calendar for a while, but please write back and give me feedback! Thanks! :)

yyyy

05-23-2012 06:46 PM

Have you tried African Black soap is natural and heals skin quickly! I also uses aloe vera skin gel after I wash and take the dead skin cells with the white sugar and the soap, I apply Alaffia cocoa butter and then seal it with aloe vera gel, that stuff works magic! You may get a pimple every once in a blue moon, but keep evernight applying the stuff it be fading or gone the next day, you should try it, but it also takes effect once you do it!

Please answer my question, because I am new on here!:hello2:

Scrit

06-11-2012 02:53 PM

I think I kinda get how you feel, because I had really terrible acne once, it started at about 11 and just got worse and worse...

Anyway, I'm not so sure about this PROACTIV thing, because all I know of it are commercials on TV with Avril Lavigne saying this and that and I normally don't take products like that seriously, but it might be good.
The one thing that I can really recommend you is
GO SEE A DERMATOLOGIST!

...because first a professional will find a product that's right for YOUR skin, second you'll know who to turn to if you have problems (there can be side effects to the real stuff, just saying) and third, it WILL work because if not...you're in the US, sue the sucker :tongue5:

btw I used CURACNE, but I think you can't get it anymore in the US.

Joce12

06-12-2012 12:32 AM

Fair Warning: This is verrry long, sorry. :)

="http://www.acne.org"]Acne.org - Acne treatment and community[/URL]

Joce12

06-12-2012 12:33 AM

Fair Warning: This is verrry long, sorry. :)

I've had everywhere from very moderate acne to very severe. It's miserable and embarrassing, and I did everything I could to cover it. It finally got bad enough that my parents took me to a doctor who referred me to a dermatologist. I was put on antibiotics and given several very harsh chemical washes and treatments to use. Granted it cleared up the worst most infected parts, but I still struggled with it. I did copious amounts of research on ingredients in treatments, different causes of acne, which worked, why they worked, etc, and I tried about everything. That being said, I know my way around acne treatments pretty well.

As for PROACTIV, it's nothing special. It's a basic routine, with the same ingredients as the stuff you'll find at wal-mart(shocking right?). It's a salicylic acid wash, a gentle toner, a moisturizer, and I believe it includes some kind of mask..Anyways, while it is true that not everything at wal-mart is fantastic, a lot of it works better than the high end products, and you get a lot more bang for your buck. The larger drugstore companies have a lot more money for research, and are competing with the higher end products, so they tend to produce some good stuff on occasion. Usually a lot of the problems is in how they are used.

Keeping a consistent routine is probably the most important and effective way to fight acne. It takes about 2 weeks for skin to go through its complete cycle, and it's best to stick with a routine for at 1-3 months to see if it works. Second most important part is knowing you skin. 9 times out of 10 what worked for your friend won't work for you because your skin types are different, very similar to how hair products tend to work for one and not the other. Skin also has types

Referring back to the routine thing(broken record, sorry ^-^) Not saying you can't/shouldn't try PROACTIV, but it's terribly expensive for what it is. You're most likely to get the best results with a 2% salicylic acid wash(clears away the dead skin and bacteria),an alcohol free toner(anything with do really, this serves to cleanse a little deeper than the wash and remove any makeup you may have missed), a basic moisturizer(VERY important, though type of moisturizer depends on your skin type), a spot treatment(typically benzoyl peroxide or salicylic anything upward of 2% of either is excessive for mild acne), and since you have a hard time with healing probably something restorative before bed, which is when your skin is recovering(there are numerous products out there, but I use triple anitbiotic, it's proven to be pretty effective). Best ways to use all of this; wash twice a day, followed by the toner and moisturizer, before bed use the spot treatment and use the restorative treatment when every you think that there's a risk of scaring or marks.

Few more words of wisdom, if you can bear with me, drinking lots of water and taking vitamins can help with the healing process amongst other things. Do NOT PICK at any of it, and don't touch your face. I know it's tempting, but it makes it worse and increases the likelihood of scaring and future break outs. I know your very much interested in a perfect matte complexion, and you will undoubtedly use make up to achieve that, in which I recommend a few things; first, ALWAYS take off your make up before bed, less is more, try dotting concealer on trouble spots before foundation, I suggest mineral makeup as it won't cause anymore breakouts, and be sure to have clean hands and brushes before you apply your makeup. If your skin doesn't improve you really should see a dermatologist, also, they will point you in the right direction.

If you can handle anymore reading after that, here's a good website that you may find useful: It has all kinds of information on everything from the routine to make up and products.

Really hope this helped, and I am so sorry it's so long. I hope you made it through it all. ^_^

Mystery99

06-20-2012 12:12 AM

My friend is just like that and she tried proactive and it worked wonders for her.
Just a warning, one of the steps in proactive is mainly alchohol so if you have never used anything with a lot of alchohol it's gonna hurt a little but just keep using it (if u decide to get it) if u stop ur gonna have to start the whole process over and it won't work as fast. Something I recommend for acne that worked miricales for me is 2 products, desquam and retin A. If u use those together it works really well. Then again it did for me,everybody is different.If u have any questions about desquam or retin A just ask.

Vcarroll12

09-14-2012 04:35 PM

PROACTIV worked well for me but when i started forgetting about it and it cleared up it came back 10 times WORSE! it did that for my cousin as well ! it might work for u !